2nd Chance
by kassandra not cassey
Summary: Jess and Shay are human-avian hybrids but they're also Max and Fangs kids. When the flock split up for four years, they jump at the idea of seeing everyone again. But darkness is coming and Itex is growing stronger, and they want revenge.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone who's reading this thanks for taking time to read this fantic. Hope you enjoy and leave reviews please.**

**Jess POV**

"Jess hurry up we're going to be late."

"One sec, I'm just finishing."

"We don't have a second Jess, get down here now."

I sighed and dropped my make-up mirror, what I had on would have to do.

"Coming mom."

I ran down the hallway and grabbed my jacket from the kitchen. My mom had gone to get the mail; she could be so impatient sometimes. Who's my mom, well her full name is Maximum Ride, but I call her mom or Max. Actually everyone calls her Max, except for my dad. Well actually not my dad recently because I haven't seen him in four years.

You see when I was ten and my brother, Shay, was eleven a company called Itex started to come back. Small but everyone in the flock thought it was best if they split up.My mom thought that she had destroyed Itex when she was fourteen, but I guess a small part survived. So my mom said that they would get back together when the time was right. I mean we all still kept in contact and I still talked to my brother, dad, other flock members and the other kids but since I was ten we've been attacked by erasers five times. That may not seem like much but almost being taken to a place that occurs in my mom's nightmares would scare anyone.

"Jess stop daydreaming and hurry up we're going to be late."

"Sorry mom, did you get the mail?"

"Yes but…"

I grabbed the mail from her hands, I was waiting for my report card to come and I wanted to see how I did before my mom. When I looked through the mail I saw a plain white envelope with the names, Jess and Max Ride, hand written on the front.

"Mom, look."

I handed the letter to my mom and all of a sudden it was like she had just forgotten about my school assembly. She opened the envelope and inside was a letter.

"What's it say?"

"Jess we're taking a trip, a flying trip."

Yes a flying trip meant that the letter could only have been from a flock member or my dad. By the way I do have wings. Their mid-night black and my mom says that they look exactly like my dad's. My mom handed me the letter, it said…

_Max and Jess,_

_The time has come to be a flock again. Itex is growing stronger and needs to be stopped. Meet at Nudges country house on the 26__th__ of May. Now is the time to get our second chance. _

_Love you_

_Fang and Shay._

"Are we going?"

My mom just smiled and nodded. Finally I was going to see my whole family again.

**Sorry the chapter was short but I had to have something to start with. Anyway review and tell me what you think. I absolutely love your reviews. Oh and if you get a chance check out my other fantic for Max Ride. It's called Together We Stand. Review.**


	2. Reunion

**Hey all. Please, please, please, review after you read these chapters. I'm a review freak and I love it when I get reviews. So review and here's another chapter.**

**Jess POV**

Flying, there is absolutely nothing in the world that can compare to it. The rush of the wind, the weightless feeling, nothing can compare.

My mom and I were about three hours away from Nudges. She lived in Montana and had a good chunk of land that was covered with woods. It was the 26th and school for me was over. Yahoo. The school assembly my mom wanted to go to was just a last day of school play. I was probably the happiest I've been in a while. I was going to see my dad, my brother and all the other flock members and their kids.

After about three hours we landed on one side of Nudges house. I was giddy and excited while I saw my mom was tense and nervous.

"You ready Jess?"

"Duh."

I bolted onto Nudges front porch and knocked on the door. Nudges house was a large two story house, painted white with large windows at the top of the house. (I wonder why?) My mom came up behind me just as I heard the door being unlocked.

Finally the door opened and Nudge looked at us in dis-belief.

"Max!"

Max and Nudge hugged. Nudge finally noticed me and she was actually surprised.

"Nudge this is Jess." My mom said.

"I don't believe it. Jess you've grown."

"Hi aunt Nudge."

Nudge smiled and led us inside. Nudge actually wasn't my real aunt but you could consider her my aunt. Nudge led us up to her attic which looked like a second living room. In the corner on the couch sat Fang and Shay. They stood up when we walked in, Shay ran over to Max, while I ran to Fang.

We hugged and his embrace was so strong and protective.

"Dad."

**I know another short chapter but don't kill me. The chapters will get longer. Review Please.**


	3. Everyone's Here

**Hey it's me again. This chapter will be a little longer, promise. And finally there will be some action.**

**Jess POV**

"_Dad."_

I hugged my dad for what seemed like an eternity. I missed him so much. Phone calls and letters can only go so far. There was only one advantage to not having your dad around; he didn't follow you on dates. Which in fact I've been on, but my mom always flew behind us which sucked too.

We stayed like this until Nudge cleared her throat. We broke apart then I ended up hugging Shay and mom and dad went on a kissing spree, yuck. Nudge threw her hands in the air and walked out of the room. Hehehe, you could never rush these things you know.

A little while later we were sitting on the couch all talking about our lives. When I accidentally said I had a boyfriend, uhm, well, uh, Fang gave me a look. My mom burst out laughing. Then the door to the attic opened and Nudges family walked in, plus Nudge. There was Nudge (who was 31) and her husband, Nick (who was also 31). Guess what though, Nick is also an avian- human hybrid who was at another lab until my parents set him, and two others free. Anyway, there kids were Eliza, Rose, and Casey. Eliza and Rose were twins, both 12 years old. Casey (who's a boy just to let you know) is 11.

Eliza was medium sized in height, had green eyes, medium length, brunette hair and tawny wings. She could also turn invisible. Her sister Rose was just a teeny bit shorter than Eliza. She had purple eyes (yes people can have purple eyes) long brunette hair and off white wings. Now she could talk to animals, which is probably why a ferret was sitting on her shoulder. Their brother, Casey, was tall for his age; he had brown eyes, short brown hair and brown wings, the exact replica of his dad. He could also make up to four copies of himself.

"Hey guys!" I said to break the silence that had befallen the attic.

Here in started another round of greetings; the longest was with my mom trying to get to know everyone better.

Next walked in Iggy and Ella, (Yes Iggy married Ella.) and there two twin kids. Blade and Rush. Both boys had short hair, were tall, and were both fifteen, but that was where the similarities ended. Blade had Hazel eyes, short black hair like Shay, and dark brown wings. Blade could also tell when someone is lying and he is extremely agile. Rush had blue eyes, short blonde hair and Brownish grey wings. He could control fire and he had really good hearing.

They all came over and yet again we started up greetings. Okay people I know we haven't seen each other in the past four years, but I was really getting tired of greetings. So I went downstairs to the living room.

Next and last to walk in were Angel and Gazzy's families. They had married the other avian-hybrids my parents had rescued. Anyway Gazzy had married this girl named Alexis. They had one kid, Josh. He was 11 years old and already knew how to put together a bomb. (I wonder where that came from. Oh and did I mention that Rush also played with explosives as well.) Anyway Josh had blue eyes, short sandy blonde hair and grey wings. He was about average height for an avian-human hybrid of his age. He could also control rocks.

Angel walked in with her husband Mark. They had one kid, a 9 year old girl named Chellsie. She was soooo cute. She had amber gold eyes, medium length sandy blonde hair and white wings. She was average height for her age and she could create shields. I hugged her and I saw a puppy trailing Chellsie, the dog talked. I guess it was Total's puppy. Oh yes, Total died a little while ago but he had left behind a puppy.

Everyone headed upstairs but me. It was too crowded and I really just felt like looking at the sun so I went outside and watched the sunset. It was so awesome. So I guess I should tell you about me and my brother. Well Shay is 15; he has dark brown eyes, short black hair with long bangs, and wings like my mom's, a tawny and brown color mix. He was about three inches taller than I am and he is tall for his age. Shay can control light and can be very persuasive. I'm 14; have amber eyes, long dirty blonde hair, about average height for my age and I have midnight black wings. I can hypnotize people when I sing. Well I don't really hypnotize people but they like freeze, it's funny. I also have my mom's ability to fly really fast, although I can't fly nearly as fast as she can.

A couple of branches snapping on opposite ends of the property caught my attention. A chilly wind whipped my hair around. Then I saw something move, I looked closer and almost screamed. I casually walked inside right into the arms of a HUGE new and improver eraser. It grabbed my hands and wrenched them behind my back and with his free hand covered my mouth so if I screamed, no one would hear me.

The lights were turned off and I was dragged into a bedroom. I was kicking and doing everything I could to get loose but two other erasers were now holding me as well. When they dragged me into they started beating the crap out of me. I fought darkness closing in on me so I did something that almost made me laugh. I faked passing out. One of the erasers laughed quietly and said something about revenge. I sat up on the bed and screamed as loud as I could. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and footsteps going up the stairs.

One of the erasers punched me in the side of the head and I could no longer fight the darkness. I passed out.

**Max POV**

When we all were finally sitting around in a semi circle, I examined everyone. This was my flock, my new extended flock. Jess was downstairs, probably watching the sunset. She always did that at home. I finally spoke up.

"Okay Fang why did you call us all together."

Fang and Shay both got puzzled looks on their faces.

"We didn't, I got a letter from Nudge saying we had a problem with Itex."

Everyone looked at Nudge.

"I got a letter from Iggy saying the same thing but to pass the news on to Fang and Shay."

We looked at Iggy. Something didn't sit right with this.

_Something doesn't add up._

_No duh Jeb._

Yes I still had Jeb in my head as the voice, but I've learned a few things, like how to block him out. Iggy spoke up.

"I got a letter in the mail from Gazzy telling me to pass the info on to Nudge."

Gazzy looked puzzled.

"I got a letter from Angel telling me about Itex, and that I needed to pass the info onto Iggy."

Angel looked at me.

"Max I got a letter from you, saying it was time to be a flock again and to make sure everyone knew. So I told Gazzy."

Now everyone was looking at me. Something did not add up.

"Guys, I never sent any letter. I admit it I was going to in about a week but I never ended up getting around to it."

We were all nervous now. Suddenly Iggy and Rush stood up and went to open the window. Iggy turned around first, followed by Rush. They both said the same thing.

"ERASERS!"

We all sprang into action, getting ready to take off from the window when I remembered something.

"Guys Jess is still down stairs!"

Fang pivoted about the same time I did. I yelled for the others to take off and for them to meet up at the caves. Just F.Y.I. the caves are a bunch of caves that we discovered before we split up. Just then I heard Jess scream, her scream was cut short and Fang and I barreled down the stairs. My flock hadn't obeyed and I heard them right behind us.

At the bottom of the stairs a bunch of super charged erasers met us. I plowed right through them. I somehow knew where Jess was and I wasn't going to let them take her.

**Okay Review please.**


	4. Fight!

**Okay everyone out there, I'm soooooooo sorry I haven't updated in a while. Too much stuff going on right now. **

**Shay POV**

They had my little sister, getting away was not an option. I saw my parents run for the steps and the flock followed. All of the kids looked at me; I shrugged and followed my parents. Jumping off one of the higher steps, I planted both feet on an erasers head. Blade and Rush were each fighting an eraser by me. The eraser I had kicked got back up and lunged at me. My dad had taught me how to fight and I'm glad he did. I kicked the erasers knee cap in and heard a crunch. He ran to the back bedroom and following him was my mom.

"DAD, the back bedroom!"

He dispatched a bunch of erasers and ran right behind my mom. I could tell he was mad, and if he was mad my mom would be even madder.

I looked around; Eliza and Rose were taking on one eraser, while Casey, Josh, and Chellsie were fighting one eraser also. Iggy and Ella were fighting about five erasers each. Let me tell you something, even though my Aunt Ella dosen't have our strength, she could still fell erasers left and right. As my dad put it once, when a mothers family is in trouble stay out of the way.

Nudge and Nick were working together to take care of eight erasers. Gazzy and Alexis were each taking care of four erasers. Angel and Mark were dealing with the extra erasers and watching out for the younger kids.

I ran to the back room. Inside was chaos. My parents were mad, and I saw why. Jess was on the bed with blood all over her. Suddenly I was mad as well; those stupid erasers had tried to hurt my sister.

I lunged myself at an eraser and jumped on his back. I covered his eyes with my hands and sent a burst of light through them. I dropped to the floor while the eraser ran around blind. Fang blended into a shadow and took out the last three erasers, right through their own shadows. Yeah my dad has an awesome ability, he can blend into shadows. My mom also has super speed and can heal.

Anyway once the erasers were either, dead, gone or out cold, everyone had congregated in the back bedroom. Mom cleaned up all the blood on Jess and reveled scratches on her face and a long scratch on her arm. The scratch on her arm went from her shoulder to just above her wrist. Mom healed all the scratches and dad took her.

"Nudge, Nick gather supplies. Angel, Mark scans the area for anymore erasers. Everyone get as many supplies as you can carry for flying about three hours. Itex knows where we are, time to go." My mom issued orders and everyone followed them. Just like old times, the flock was back. Itex was going down.

**Yeah I know short chapter but that's all I have time to type now. Anyway review all the same.**


	5. Information Revealed

**Yeah I finally had time to update. Sorry about the lapse of time but I've been really busy lately. I'll try to update at least one more time during Christmas break. **

**Max POV **

We were flying high and fast. I knew we needed to stop and rest for the night but I wanted as much distance as possible between us and the erasers. Jess had woken up a couple of hours ago and had been flying just as well as the other kids. I laughed a little when I noticed how close Shay was staying by her.

Shay, how much he had grown over the years. He was looking more like Fang each day. I had missed him so much. And then there was Jess, my baby girl, who was looking more like well me.

"MAX!"

I snapped out of my thinking and looked at Nudge. She was an adult, but she still talked so much that it made you want to jump off a cliff, (wings in for us.) I had obviously missed something.

"Sorry Nudge, what'd you say?"

"I said we need to stop, erasers or not."

"You're right. Tell everyone to look for a place to rest."

Ten minutes later we were landing outside of an old, abandoned park. There was no cover except for, four large jungle gyms. The kids laid down by each other, after a quick supper, under one of the jungle gyms roof tops. I motioned for everyone else to meet up a little ways away.

"Alright did you guys get the info we were supposed to get?"

I got various nods.

"Good. Angel, Mark what'd you two get on Itex's names and logo's?"

"Itex goes by three names now. Itex of course, but there's also The Lions Den Company and Middles Inc. There are many smaller branches like before, but Itex is no where near the size it was before."

I looked at Mark.

"What she said but the headquarters is unknown."

"Okay, Gazzy, Alexis, what about their products?"

"Same as before, except a little more of their profit is going back to genetic research." Alexis said while Gazzy nodded.

"Not surprising. Nudge, Nick what about any sponsors?"

"So far no extra help, when we blew them up last time no one even seemed to notice they were gone. So they had some of their branches keep them going until they could stand on their own again."

Great just when I thought that we had destroyed Itex, I find out that they had some people holding their hand while they were down.

"Right, Iggy, Ella what about labs, experiments, stuff like that."

"The labs that survived are the strongest ones up now but there are about five extra ones just in the U.S." Ella said very sure of herself.

"Any experiments we should be worried about?"

"Ha! If Itex had its way, every eraser will be tracking us within the week."

"Thanks guys. Fang how about some of our old friends back in Itex?"

"Same as you would think. They're the heads of Itex. How about you and the director?"

Crap, just like old times, Fang still knew when something was wrong. I looked down at the wedding ring Fang had given me. I was a solid gold band with a wing on it. Just like the rest of the flock, we had gotten married in one of those quick marriage places that some hotels have. I loved Fang with all my heart and I knew he loved me too, but sometimes I wished he wasn't so observant.

"Max?" Fang looked at me through dark eyes that cared. I sighed.

"I lost her trail about five months ago. She could be anywhere by now. The last time she was spotted she was near Death Valley, California, which means she's probably still in control."

I heard a rustling in a bush a few feet away from us. Angel looked towards the bush and smiled.

"Come out Chel, I know you're there."

Chellsie, Angel and Marks sweet nine year old daughter. She ran up to Mark and he picked her up. My mind flashed back to seeing Jess on the bed with that horrible cut down her arm that would leave a scar. The idea that the erasers wanted her scared me half to death. There was NO WAY that the kids could come with us. I opened up the link I had with Jeb.

_Jeb?_

_What Max? It's late and I was just enjoying a very nice dream. _

_How would you like the kids for a while?_

_Sure we'd love to have Jess and Shay._

_No I mean all the kids. Itex is back and we need someone to look after the kids for a while._

There was a pause.

_Um sure, I just asked your mother and she said she'd love all the kids. So that means the whole flock is back together?_

_Yup._

_Uh goodie, that means I have an excuse to bug you._

_Ha, we'll be there within the next few days. _

I severed the connection with Jeb and then jumped; realizing Fang had moved closer to me and was holding my hand.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure Fang, um one sec though. Hey guys."

Everyone looked at me. Chellsie had gone back to bed so it was just us again.

"We're going after Itex but we can't take the kids. I know I speak for all of us when I say I don't want the kids hurt."

I got determined nods and Fang squeezed my hand, knowing what I was thinking about.

"They going to moms?" Ella asked me.

"Yup, first thing tomorrow we'll fly to Jeb's. Now I got first watch so you all get some rest."

An hour later Fang and I were huddled together on top of one of the playground rooftops.

"I really missed you Fang."

"Me too, so what's Jess like? I mean we wrote and talked on the phone but I missed a few years of her life."

"Well she loves to sing and dance and she's good at both, it helps that she's very agile. She loves and missed you and Shay a lot. What about Shay?"

"Well he has your stubborn streak. He's an excellent fighter and he can draw very well. He also loves and missed you and Jess."

I smiled at Fang; we were never going to be apart like that ever again. Then I realized…

"Hey _my_ stubborn streak, you're the stubborn one. And Jess has adopted your love of black by the way."

Fang burst out laughing, and once he stopped he had to wipe tears out of his eyes.

"I love you to Max."

We just sat there for a while. Fang held me and once my watch was up I fell asleep in his arms.

**Okay I know this fantic is more about Jess and Shay but at some points there will be times when I have to do a Max or Fang POV. Anyway that means there is really important info. So review please.**


	6. RUN!

**I know everyone wants to shoot me for not updating lately but I have exams coming up and I just haven't had the time to update. Sorry. So here is your reward for waiting.**

**Jess Pov**

Why are we heading towards Arizona? I don't know I just want to get something to eat. Blade and Rush look hilarious, they made a bet to see who could go the longest without moving, except to breathe and fly. Shay's entertaining Chellsie by telling her all kinds of funny stories about when he was nine. Eliza and Rose are talking to Rose's ferret, Melvin, don't ask me why his name is Melvin it just is. Josh and Casey are flying by uncle Iggy and uncle Gazzy. I guess their talking about, you guessed, bombs.

"Hard right guys and look for the nearest clearing we can land in." Yelled my mom while tucking in her wings a little.

I copied her moves exactly and we landed right outside of my grandparent's house. Well now I know why we were heading to Arizona.

The door opened and out stepped my grandparents. We hugged and talked when I noticed all the adults get just a tad antsy.

"Um mom, why are we here?"

Everyone seemed to echo my question. Mom sighed and looked at my dad.

"Kids, you all are going to stay here for a bit while Max, Gazzy, Iggy, Angel, Mark, Nick, Nudge, Alexis, Ella and I go take care of some business alone."

"What NO! You're going after Itex, I can tell. Take us with you."

"I'm sorry Blade but it's for your own safety."

I just stared at my mom; we had always been a team. Never to be broken up. Now she wanted to go and destroy Itex without us. What would happen if something went wrong, I would never see her again and I just got my dad back, no way was I letting them leave without us. Then I noticed my mom looking at the long scar on my arm. She was worried about us getting hurt.

"Mom we can look after ourselves, please let us come."

"No Jess and that's final."

"But mom," I looked at my dad and he shook his head. Shay was just staring at him then turning his version of bambi eyes on mom. Shay can do bambi eyes really well.

"No! Now Shay I'm trusting you with this," mom pulled out a credit card and gave it to Shay, "this is only to be used in emergencies and you are to look after everyone."

"Okay mom."

We all said good-bye to our parents and watched them take off. Then we were herded into the house and shown where we would sleep. It's not that I didn't like my grandparents it was more of the fact that I wanted to be with my parents.

**Three weeks later**

"Jess look at what I found." Chellsie said while shoving a poster in my face. Since our parents left I've kind of become the mother type person and Shay's become like our flock leader.

"What is it Chellsie?" I read what the poster said. It had singing contest written all over it, with a date and time and wait a second…

"Chellsie is this that same singing contest you've been trying to get me to enter into?"

Chellsie looked down then muttered a small yes. Even when you're annoyed with her, it was hard to stay mad at Chellsie. She was the exact replica of her mom. Cute green eyes, curly blonde hair, and an ability that could knock you into the next world.

"Look Chellsie, I already told you, I'm not going to sing in front of people."

"Oooookkkkkkaaaaayyyyyyy."

"Why don't you go find Shay or Rush and have them play with you."

"Okay!"

Chellsie skipped out of the house into the yard where she tackled an unsuspecting Rush. I laughed until Blade walked in.

"Did I just see nine year old Chellsie tackle my annoying twin brother?"

"That you did. I thought you went with Jeb to the store?"

"I did, we just got back. Jeb's still outside unloading."

"Good, I'm getting really hungry."

Just then Josh ran into the house followed by Rush and Chellsie. They're faces had erasers written all over them. My grandma ran into the house with Rose and Eliza and then Jeb ran in with Shay and Casey.

"What's going on?" I asked while my grandparents began herding us towards the back of the house.

"Erasers everywhere, you guys can't fly because they've got helicopters. We've got to get you guys to the safe house."

Jeb opened the back door when we heard the front door being banged open.

"Run towards the west until you hit a small creek bed. Stay in the woods and take the trail that leads up into the foothills of the mountains. From there you'll find an old dirt road, follow it for three miles then hike up the mountain going north for a mile and you'll come to an old cabin. Stay there until your parents or we come. Go now."

My grandparents shoved us outside the door and closed it behind us. They said that our parents may be coming. We had talked to them a couple of times on phones and such but we hadn't seen them in three weeks.

"Let's GO! Blade lead." Shay said while pointing towards the woods.

Blade took off and we followed him into the woods, running blind as the sun was just starting to set. We knew we were heading west but it got harder and harder to see just where we were going. All the while we were all on high alert for erasers or whack job scientists. I just hope grandma and grandpa get away.

After running for what felt like hours, (it was only a half hour), Chellsie tripped in something and fell. I saw her knee got scraped up and she had a hard time getting back up.

"Rush grab Chellsie."

Then I saw what Chellsie tripped in, a small little creek.

"Guys hold up, I found the creek."

Eliza hollered to everyone up ahead and we soon found the trail. We followed it up an incline until Rose fell onto an old dirt road. By now we were running in complete darkness. There was half a moon and a million stars but they didn't light our path much. Rush was still carrying Chellsie who still couldn't walk on her knee and Rose winced whenever she put weight on her right ankle. Finally Shay just decided to carry her on his back. Josh and Casey were lagging behind a little, because they were tired, and I was in the lead with Eliza by me and Shay was in the back.

"Jess stop this is about three miles. Turn into the woods and be careful to look where you're going."

"Got it Shay."

I turned into the woods and slowed down to a walk. There was no way we'd be able to run through the woods again. Going to the cabin, Josh fell into a fairly large hole and once we got him out, I could tell he had hit his head, how you ask, he had a gash on his forehead and he could barely walk straight. So Blade ended up carrying him the rest of the way.

Finally we came to a clearing and saw a small log cabin. We went inside and collapsed on anything we could find that was soft. The minute my head hit a pillow I was out, not caring about erasers, Itex, or scientists.

**Review, review, review, review, review please. I don't know when I'll be able to update again because I have exams this week, but I promise I'll update ASAP. **


	7. Invisible

**You guys are lucky; my school had a snow day today. So here's the next chapter. Enjoy and review please. **

**Director POV**

Soon Itex will be stronger than ever and then those pesky avian hybrids won't be able to stop us. Soon we'll take over the world and rule it like it was always meant to be.

"Ma'am may I enter?"

I looked at the closed door to my office. My assistant was always asking to be let in; he never knocked like normal people. Ha, but what do I know about normal, I engineer works of art that are meant for destruction.

"Come in Monroe." Monroe opened the door and put a file down on my desk. I looked at him, wondering if he was going to explain.

"Oh, um, the erasers that were sent to Jeb's place found something you might want to know about." I opened the file to see pictures and descriptions. "Apparently the flock married, and had kids."

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! This could rowan everything that we've worked for. Unless…

"Monroe get every eraser we can spare right now looking for those kids. I want to know everything about them. Bring them here and don't kill them."

"Yes ma'am."

Monroe slipped out of my office and I leaned back in my chair. These kids would change the plan a little, but it would be worth it. Maximum Ride and her flock were going down.

**Shay POV**

I woke up to scratching on the porch of the cabin. I fell off the couch and went instantly into flight or fight mode. Blade and Rush woke up next to me, seeing the alarm on my face they quietly woke everyone up. We went into one of the bedrooms and crouched on the floor.

"Rush what do you hear?"

Rush was silent for a moment, then his eyes popped open.

"Erasers, surrounding us, we've got to get out."

I look at Eliza. "Can you turn us all invisible for just a short time?"

"Maybe, everyone hold hands."

That's just what we did, and even though it felt extremely weird, Eliza turned us all invisible. We walked out the back door making as little sound as we could. Once we hit the woods we saw them, erasers everywhere and they didn't see us.

We walked for about two minutes beyond the erasers and then I told Eliza to make us visible. She was tired but Eliza was just like her mom, always trying to keep up with everyone.

"Shay what now?" Jess asked.

"We travel up the mountain until dark and try to put as much space between us and the erasers. Then we'll find a spot to take off from. Got it?"

"Got it," everyone said at once.

So we walked all day and once dusk came, everyone took off. Where we were going, I had no idea, but my mom made me promise to take care of everyone and that's what I'm going to do.

**I know, short and probably kind of boring, but I needed to update and I don't have much time right now. Review please. **


	8. In His Head

**Oh my gosh I actually had time to update. I've been so busy and I just haven't had time to update. Sorry I'll try to keep the updates coming about once a week or so from now on. Enjoy.**

**Blade Pov**

"How about New York or San Francisco? Those are large enough cities." Josh suggested, popping a bunch of French fries into his mouth.

We had stopped to eat at a McDonalds somewhere in Nevada, heading west. Now we weren't so sure that was a good idea. An image of my mom popped into my head, along with a memory of when I was younger. I had gotten lost in the woods around a campsite and some how my mom was able to find me. Then I was also scooped up into my dad's arms and carried back to camp, I was only five then.

"BLADE!"

Started, I looked over at Jess. There was something very different about her that I just couldn't put my finger on. She was so strong for everyone, like a substitute mother, and she was the spitting image of her mother.

"What Jess?"

"I was asking you if you had any ideas as to where to look for our parents. Obviously something went wrong if Itex found out about us."

Running down the list of possibilities, I noticed Shay was waiting for my answer. I guess he had sort of become the leader and I was grateful, very content to be the silent shadow that always was on the right or left side.

"Blade what about somewhere in the mountains, like in Tennessee or some other state?" Casey asked me looking very innocent. Now here was a girl that you didn't want to mess with. Her shields could be lethal and as Jess confessed to me once, a good way to keep the younger kids from getting hurt.

An idea suddenly sprang into my head. "What about Pigeon Forge Tennessee? It's a tourist city and fairly large, a good place to start and find info."

Shay nodded his head and considered the options. I could see Rush was thinking of something because he just stared straight ahead and jumped when I waved my hand in front of his face. Even though he was my twin brother, and we had wings, he still annoyed my so much, yet if I had to fight in a battle there was no one more I would want by my side. Ugh, the complications of… my life.

"Um Shay," Josh said while looking intently at his food. Somehow we found something very interesting.

"There are a bunch of erasers around us." Casey finished what Josh was saying. He also had decided that something looked very interesting in his food."

"Alright," Shay spoke so quietly I had to strain to hear and he barely moved his mouth, he would have to teach me that. "Rose, tell your ferret to make some chaos, then on my cue, jump out of the booth and out the door. Head to the trees and take off. Split up, do a wide circle to loose the erasers that follow you and then meet right outside of town."

We all nodded and I felt Roses ferret, crawl over my feet and on to the floor. Yes we still had the ferret, Rose couldn't part with him.

"Rush, take Eliza and Rose and head north. Josh and Casey, you're with me, and Chellsie you're with Jess and Blade. I really hate to say this but, Jess and Blade try to get as many erasers to follow you as possible. I would do it, but I want to take recon and see what we're dealing with."

A slight smile touched my lips, I would gladly lour the erasers towards me. Chellsie and Jess were both capable of handling themselves in fights. Suddenly there was a girl in the kitchen screaming 'rat'. Then more and more were also yelling. The erasers started to get antsy and they took their attention off of us.

"NOW." The one word was strained and almost impossible to hear but Rose and Eliza slid under the table, while Casey and Josh jumped on the table. The rest of us jumped out of our seats and we booked it out the doors and to the take off spot. Shay was the last to take off and then there were erasers everywhere.

Everyone started to take off but Jess turned around and hovered for a minute.

"Hey you want me, then come and get me. Although the way you guys fly, I mean yeah you're better than the first bunch my parents told me about but you haven't improved very well."

An eraser launched himself at Jess and she merely flapped her wings once, got on top of him then plummeted with all her strength. This seemed to get most of the erasers attention.

Jess shot past us, yelling move it, as she went by. Chellsie looked back and saw why, oh boy Jess did it this time.

Chellsie took off, fast, and I followed. How Jess managed to angle the eraser she kicked to hit another eraser like that… well it was something her parents could be proud of. I mean, she made that one guys eraser kiss and another eraser. He landed just right on top of that other eraser… something everyday Jess did threw me for a loop. I was never board around her.

"Hang on guys, we got company."

I turned around ready to face the on slot of erasers. This was going to be fun.

**Okay Review. Just click the little purple button, type a few words and send it. It's not that hard. Okay so yeah, um, well I guess Review again.**


	9. Double Time

**Okay everyone here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it. And if you get the chance and have read Twilight check out my new fantic, (It's for Twilight) it's called Through Her Eyes.**

**Jess POV**

I'd made the erasers mad, whoops, not! Blade on my right had a huge grin on his face, besides my brother, he was probably the best fighter out of all of us. Chellsie on my left was balling her hands into fists, so what if she was only nine years old, she could break a grown mans ribs with one kick. The almost impenetrable shields that she could make helped with that a little too.

"JESS!" Blade exclaimed.

"What? Oh…" The erasers were on us, the two that I had humiliated came at me fast. I dropped about ten feet and then came up under one, punching him in the gut. His breath came out in a whoosh, followed by a stink that made me want to gag. I flew on top of the eraser and slapped his wings together; even with all their new improvements erasers wings still folded like paper when we slapped them together. He fell and landed in some trees.

The other eraser came at me again, he was a little more cautious than the other one had been. We flew in circles, each taking swings at each other. An eraser was suddenly flying on top of me and dive bombing. I flew out of the way, just in time; he was only able to knock off a few feathers from my right wing.

The fighting went on like this for about three minutes. I had taken down about five erasers, Chellsie I saw had taken down about three and I knew Blade had taken at least four. So once we saw they were all gone, we were gone. Neither Blade nor I wanted to stick around to see if there were any more erasers, we just had to hope that everyone else had gotten away.

"Jess, do you remember where we were supposed to meet?"

"Yeah Chellsie, right outside of town, we need to hurry. Move it Blade."

"I'm coming; somebody in this group has to be cautious."

Rolling my eyes I started to search the sky and the ground. There weren't that many erasers at the restaurant so Shay and Rush's groups couldn't have got into trouble. But the dark landscape and the absent shapes of bird kids in the sky started to give me an uneasy feeling. No way could anything have happened, I would have known, something would just feel different.

"Yo Jess, we're camped in some caves Eliza found, follow me." A smile broke out on my face. Thank goodness nothing happened. Blade on the other hand was probably wishing it was someone other than his brother that he had to follow.

"Hey Rush, what happened?"

"Well we took out three erasers, oh and I love the trick you pulled, how'd you do that anyway?"

"Don't know but it worked right."

"Yeah so we were circling the city when Eliza found a bunch of well hidden caves. Then we ran into Shay and they didn't have any erasers follow them. All Shay, Josh, and Casey did was scout around and find a helicopter full of erasers. It wasn't pretty."

I wondered what Rush had meant and was about to ask when I saw the smoke and the fire. Chellsie's grimaced and Blade smiled. Of course Blade would smile, he probably wanted to go back in time and see the fight for himself.

We met up and flew off again. It soon became dark but no one, not even Chellsie, wanted to stop. Out of habit I began to sing one of my favorite songs, trying to pass the time and keep everyone alert.

I got half way through my song when lights came into view. It was probably two in the morning and we had to land. Shay had other plans though; he angled away from the lights.

"Shay what are you doing? We've got to stop for the night."

"No we can't Jess. I know the erasers aren't that far behind us."

I just shook my head and flew back by Blade.

"He can be so stupid and stubborn. We're going to drop out of the sky from exhaustion any minute. I can tell he's tired and I know everyone else is."

Blade just smiled at me.

"He's just doing what he thinks is best. I honestly agree with him. We need to move or the erasers are going to catch us."

"Guys!" I sighed in exasperation. Another five minutes went by in silence. That's when we noticed the erasers in front of us. Ugh. Shay had been right.

"Fan out and if you have to fight on the ground." Shay ordered. I really wasn't in the mood to fight erasers, again! That's when I saw her. She was with the erasers with a smug look, along with a wild look in her eyes. She was ordering the erasers around, like she was in charge. Shay and I stopped short, there was no way…

"MOM!"

**Okay you all need to review. I absolutely love it when I get reviews so yeah.**


	10. Capture

**I'm so sorry it's taking me so long to review but I had a lot to do. Now I don't so I should be able to update sooner. Here's the next chapter.**

**Shay POV**

"_MOM!"_ Jess said by my side. There was no way that could be our mom. No way what so ever, yet she looked exactly like my mom.

"Ha, you must be Maximum Ride's kids. No I'm not your mother. You can call me Shadow and well, if you haven't guessed, I'm your mothers clone."

Suddenly the memories were there. I remembered dad telling me about an evil Max, Max II. The school had created her to destroy my mom and 'save the world.' The plan had backfired.

After that the erasers attacked us and well the last thing I remembered was being thrown into the back of a truck.

I woke up, chained to a wall, surrounded by everyone but Jess. I was the first one to wake up and I quickly took in our surroundings. We were in a large, dark, damp room literally chained to the wall with real chains around one of our ankles. There were no windows and there was only one thick looking steel door at the other end of the room, way out of our reach.

I'm so stupid, I should have listened to Jess and landed. We were all so tired out that we couldn't put up an adequate fight.

Blade woke up then and sat up; he had a cut on his head that was covered with dried blood. He took one look and me and winced.

"What, do I look that bad?" I asked Blade, he nodded and sat back against the wall.

"Where are we?" Blade asked me, closing his eyes. His head looked like it really hurt.

"Take a guess." Blade groaned and then his eyes snapped open. He took one look around and began to ask me where Jess was. I told him I had no idea. Everyone else started to wake up, they all looked horrible. This made me feel even worse.

I had no idea what time it was or how much time had passed. Several times we each tried to get loose of the chains but every time we failed. Rose trying to hide tears that slid down her cheeks because the last thing she remembered was her ferret dieing.

We were all talking about ways to escape when Rush suddenly tensed. He mouthed erasers. I told everyone to act like they were still asleep. Within seconds of my eyes closing the door opened and footsteps came in. Gruff voices talked and I slid my eyes open. Just a little, only enough to see without looking like I was awake. Erasers brought in something and chaines clicked together. It took me a second to recognize the bruised and bloodied form of my sister.

My eyes flew open and I was consumed with rage. Jumping up I sent a blast of light into the erasers eyes. One made the mistake of coming to close to me, I kicked him in the gut, knee, shoulder and head before the other erasers restrained me. Chellsie was the only one who was able to get close to Jess. Her expression was a mix of worry and anger.

Before a fight could break out, my chain was unlocked and I was dragged out of the room. I kicked and dealt out as many punches as I could while I was dragged and held by three erasers. I gave each one at least one broken bone and many bruises. They would NOT get away with doing that to my sister.

After being dragged down two brightly lit hallways I was thrown into a small room. The door closed and locked behind me. Inside, the room was all white and erasers were everywhere. Most of them were on the ground while the rest pulled them out of another door. Four erasers blocked my way to the door.

On the opposite side of the wall there was a thick pane of glass with chicken wire in it. That foiled that idea. The ceiling was low so I couldn't fly. One of the erasers started to speak to me. He was telling me that I was going to be tested on my abilities, so the erasers being dragged out… cool, Jess totally kicked some butt.

It took about two minutes for the room to fill up with new erasers. Shadow, stood on the other side of the glass with a nerdy looking guy and a few other business looking people behind them; all of them seemed to be anticipating the fight. There had to be something wrong in their heads.

The erasers suddenly stood ready and I got ready to fight. An idea came to mind and I looked the head eraser square in the eye. If I could just persuade him to turn on his own men…

"You don't really want to fight me. I'll just kick you're butt anyways." The eraser shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. I pushed harder.

"You don't want to hurt me; you want revenge for something one of your men did." The erasers eyes went glassy and he turned around and bowled over one of the erasers closest to him. Shadow behind the glass, got an evil smirk on her grin and watched with new eagerness. The other erasers in the room looked once at their fighting comrades and once at me. They sprang and I prepared to fight all ten, blood thirsty erasers.

**Okay I'll update soon but I need reviews people. So just pretend that, that little purple button is you're friend telling you to click it. Review please and yes I know I'm crazy. **


	11. Water Slide

**Okay next chapter, and guess what I just heard? J.P. wrote another max ride book that's coming out the 17****th**** of March. YEAH! Okay here's the next chapter. **

**Jess POV**

"Jess where are we?" Chellsie asked me, her lower lip trembling.

"I don't know." I answered, lying through my teeth. I knew exactly where we were. And we probably were in a lot of trouble. The scientists here knew who are parents were, knew what we could do, and some other things that my mom and I spent my whole life trying to hide.

In the dank cellar/dungeon, there was a constant drip of water that was making Rush go crazy and the air was cold and chilling. We each had been taken to that awful white room and made to fight those stupid erasers. Every one of us had been brought back unconscious, and pretty beat up, although we each had taken down at least three erasers.

"Hey guys, Rocky here says that if we could get out of these chains, he would be able to get us out of here." Rose said looking optimistic.

"Rose will you please tell that rat to go away." Eliza asked, looking the other way.

Rose had befriended a rat that was running around in the room. The thing was all black with brown eyes, pink ears, nose and feet and a gross pink tail. I hated rats and always would.

"Well if you could get us out," Josh said looking annoyed "we wouldn't be taking help from a rat."

Silence followed. Each of us had tried to get the chains off but to no avail. I don't know how long we sat there just staring at the walls, when Shay sat up. He seemed suddenly alert, but there was a glimmer in his eyes. He had an idea.

"Chellsie, put a thin shield around your ankle to make it slippery and try to get your foot through, take off your shoes first." Chellsie did what Shay asked and to my amazement she was able to get her foot through. She did it to Casey and Josh, they got out as well. Soon we were all out and quickly planning on how to escape.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that before. It was so obvious." Chellsie said, smacking her forehead.

"Doesn't matter. Shay, any idea how to get out of here?"

"Let me think. There's a camera monitoring the door and I didn't see any windows close by. So I say we just run for it and take down any eraser in the way."

Rush and Blade smiled at that idea. I admit it sounded good to me, but we would probably run into erasers, scientists, or have to fight once we got out.

"Um Shay, I told you Rocky knows a way out." Rose spoke up from behind me. The rat right behind her, that thing looked so creepy.

Shay sighed and looked at me. I looked back at him then nodded towards Rose. As much as I hated rats, we could always try, besides if we didn't Rose would pester us for days.

"Fine, lead the way Rose."

As if he could hear, Rocky took off towards the back of the room that was shrouded in darkness. We followed. In the very back corner on the ground were some very rusty bars covering a whole about three feet wide by a foot and a half long. I could hear running water under it and I had no idea how long the drop was to that water.

"Rocky says that this hole drops down to a natural underground river that spits out the side of a cliff."

Great… we were going to plunge down a small, dark hole to a river and fly out the side of a cliff. How's that for extreme sports.

"One problem, how do we get the bars off?" Casey asked glancing up at Shay. His eyes had excitement in them. Casey was always the one who wanted to do all the crazy stuff first.

"Easy you just have to do this." Blade stomped on one of the rusted bars and it broke away from the dirt holding it. He did this to the rest of the bars and Shay jumped into the whole. Two seconds or so later you could hear a splash. Casey jumped next and you could hear his yell all the way down. Rush jumped, then Rose, Josh, Blade, Eliza, and I went last.

The fall wasn't so bad. It was black and dirty. I hit the water and it wasn't actually as cold as I thought it would be. I swam to the surface and floated down stream for a while. I reached up with one of my arms and couldn't feel a ceiling. The water was too deep to touch the bottom and the water was as black as the air was. Even with my raptor vision it was really hard to see.

Suddenly the water started to go down hill and the current picked up. I was tossed everywhere until finally the tunnel opened up into a wide cave, where the water fell over the ledge. I grabbed a large rock before I was flung over and pulled my self on top. That had felt like a water ride at an amusement park.

Standing on the rock, I opened my wings, shook them to dry them a little then took off. Everyone was already outside, soaked and grumbling, everyone except Casey.

"That was AWESOME! Can we go again?" Eliza and Rose each hit Casey over the head. If I never saw another water slide it would be too soon.

"Now where do we go Shay?" I asked. I really wanted to see mom and dad again.

"Well let's go to New York. Dad once told me Itex used to have a place there, so maybe we can find some answers. If we don't find anything than we'll try to find Jeb and grandma in Arizona."

I could live with that.

"Hey can we stop at that really cool amusement park in Ohio on the way. I think it's called Cedar Point." Casey asked all innocently.

"NO!" We all screamed at the same time.

**Yeah this was probably the most random chapter so far but it works. Review please, and I'll give you a cyber cookie. **


	12. Already Over

Okay everyone so yeah here's the next chapter for a while

**Okay everyone so yeah here's the next chapter for a while. For about two weeks I'm not going to have access to a computer. **

**Jess POV**

Flying so high in the air, above clouds and all you feel is sun… you just can't describe the feeling. I remembered the first time when I flew. I was six and a little scared. I'd just seen Shay take off and land but I was still a little scared. Suddenly my mom picked me up and flung me into the air. My dad caught me and flung me higher. Suddenly my wings were open and I was flying.

"What are you thinking about?" Blade asked me. We were flying over Indiana and all I could see on the ground was miles of flat farmland.

"Just wondering what New York's going to be like." I replied pasting a fake smile on my face. Actually I was worried about our parents. Where were they, what were they doing, and were they okay?

"Jess you forget that I can tell when some ones lying. So what are you really thinking about?"

Crap I'd forgotten about that. Some one save me please.

"Um well…"

"Hey Shay can we land, I'm hungry."

Thank you Josh.

"Yeah I'm hungry too." Eliza agreed. Those two seemed to burn calories the fastest out of everyone.

Shay looked at the ground for a second and pointed towards a small patch of trees. We landed and ate. I tried to avoid Blade, I didn't want to talk and I knew that he knew I was lying. Yet I just haaaaaddddddd to sit and talk to my brother of all people.

"You seem a little off Jess, are you okay?" Shay asked me once he had finished with four granola bars.

Great, I hated to lie but I didn't want to sound like I was complaining. I just missed my mom and dad.

A day passed and we were finally to the suburbs of New York. Quiet, dark and a perfect place to remain anonymous, just like our parents had taught. We stopped at a small town and Chellsie saw a restaurant that she thought was fun. It looked crowded and I didn't want to go.

"Please Shay, please. It looks soooooo neat and I'm kind of hungry again and please." Rush, Blade and I were shaking our heads no behind Chellsie. Eliza, Rose, Josh and Casey were looking at the restaurant, and shaking their heads yes. Then… Chellsie gave Shay bambi eyes, a trick her mother taught her.

"Ugh, okay let's go."

Shay led the way to the restaurant. It looked to be a little Italian place, cozy, warm and crowded. We stepped in and a waitress, maybe seventeen years old with dirty brown curly hair, showed us to a booth in the back.

"What can I get for you tonight?" The waitress asked us, batting her eyes at Rush.

"Just water please." Shay answered. The waitress walked away a little miffed. "Look guys regular sized meals. We've got to blend in."

Blend in, right. I felt twitchy and nervous. Sweat was breaking out on my forehead and I wanted to jump up on the table and fly away. Even though we had never been locked up in cages some how, at least I was, we were still really claustrophobic.

Our food came and Shay paid in advance with the credit card dad had given him before they left. Suddenly the lights dimmed and in the far left corner a man stood on a little stage with some mechanical looking equipment. The floor in front of the stage cleared.

"Okay everyone knows what tonight is, Karaoke night. So the first person the sing, I'll pick and then the rest of the night fill out the paper on your tables and turn them in for a chance to sing." The man on the table said.

We would have bolted at that moment if it weren't for the fact that the man started to come directly back to our table. Crap.

"Well it seems we have some visitors tonight. Why don't you come up and sing." The man said looking at me. Chellsie, Eliza and Rose all squealed with glee. Then when I politely said no instead of punching the guy in the face, he started to crowd in a round of applause.

"Rachel just do it." Shay said to me, using a fake name because of how close the guy was to our table. He quickly glanced around the restaurant, everyone was looking at me.

"Fine!" Getting up I grabbed the microphone and stalked to the stage. Some one showed me how to pick a song, and then the music started.

"You never go, you're always here suffocating me, under my skin, I cannot run away, fading slowly.

I'd give it all to you, letting go of me, reaching as I fall, I know it's already over now, nothing left to loose, loving you again, I know it's already over, already over now.

My best defense, running away from you, I can't resist, take all you want from me, breaking slowly.

I'd give it all to you, letting go of me, reaching as I fall, I know it's already over now, nothing left to loose, loving you again, I know it's already over, already over now.

Your all I'm reaching for, it's already over now, all I'm reaching for, already over now.

I'd give it all to you, I offer up my soul, it's already over, already over now.

Give it all to you, letting go of me, reaching as I fall, I know it's already over now, nothing left to loose, loving you again, I know it's already over now, it's already over now, it's already over already over now."

The song ended and the restaurant erupted into applause. I didn't like how I was literally in the spot light, yet somehow it just felt right.

**So yeah the usual review and all. Oh and the song in this chapter is called Already Over by a group called RED. **


	13. Race

Wahoo I'm finally updating

**Wahoo I'm finally updating. So here's the next chapter. **

**Max POV**

"Hello anyone here?" I yelled.

"I don't like this." Fang said coming up beside me.

We were outside of my mom's house looking around. Our search had brought up nothing in the way of locating the Itex headquarters.

"Max, come quick." Nudge yelled. She was on the other side of the house.

I ran to the back of the house. The woods seemed eerily quiet and a feeling of foreboding started creeping up my spine. Nudge was frozen and what is saw made my blood run cold.

On the wall, scribbled in something that looked like dried blood was a note. It read…

_Max and flock,_

_We end this now, but this time you have your kids to worry about. So it's now a race, who can find them first? _

_Your double, Max. _

They were NOT going to get my kids. Resentment and rage consumed me and I could see the same thing in the eyes of everyone of the flock.

"Let's go." I took off and everyone else was right behind me. Fang came up besides me, grim faced as ever.

"Fang, they will not touch our kids or so help me I'll kill them all." I said through clenched teeth. Fang nodded his agreement.

**Jess POV**

We were flying over downtown New York. I felt bad for the people who were stuck on the ground, it looked crowded and annoying.

"Boo!" Blade dropped down beside me and nearly knocked me out of the sky.

"Jeez Blade, could you be any less careless?"

"Yes, yes I could."

"It was a rhetorical question Blade." I said rolling my eyes.

"I know."

"What's he doing now Jess, being the annoying, obnoxious, brother he knows he is." Rush said while flying over me.

"Yup Rush he is. Want to take care of him for me?" I asked smiling. Blade narrowed his eyes.

"With pleasure." Rush laughed while diving down to catch Blade. They wrestled in the air for a while until Shay came and broke them up. Josh and Casey laughed until they started to loose altitude when Blade and Rush tried to each break out of Shays grasp and ended up bumping heads.

"Jess?"

"What Rose?"

"Um what's that?"

Rose pointed towards the west and the setting sun. There was a dark spot in the sky that was coming right at us.

"Shay, what's that on the right?" I yelled up to Shay who was about ten feet in front of me. He looked then groaned.

"A bunch of erasers," He said to me then yelled to everyone else, "Move it guys, it doesn't look like they've seen us yet so find a dark alley and land."

Thank you Shay, I really didn't feel like fighting erasers at the moment.

We all flew as fast as we could until Chellsie spotted a dark alley and we landed.

"Gross, disgusting, and yuck. I landed in a mound of garbage." Eliza squealed while jumping up and down to get the garbage off.

I couldn't help it, I laughed and so did Casey and Rose.

The alley was long, dark, and kind of spooky, like the ones in the movies where someone always gets murdered.

"So what now Shay?" Rush asked while he kicked away a mouse. Rose glared at him, picked up the mouse, and set it down again in a garbage can all the while talking to it.

"Well let's find somewhere to crash for the night then we can start looking for info tomorrow."

With that we found a library that was still open. We hid in there until everyone left and closed up the place.

"Guys look; they have computers with the internet." Josh showed us the row of computers and we got on. Josh, Casey, and Chellsie just played games but the rest of us did some research.

I typed in Itex in Google, found nothing useful, avian-human hybrids showed nothing; it wasn't until I typed in flying kids that I found some info. Newspaper articles, interviews, pictures, and even news clips popped up. All of these were old but they were all about our parents. At least what people had got when they were trying to lye low.

"Guys look at this."

Everyone came over and we started to unfold our parents past.

**So i'll update ASAP, and please review. **


	14. The Pack

Okay so everyone can put down your knifes now, I'm updating

**Okay so everyone can put down your knifes now, I'm updating. I'm sorry it took so long but I've got a lot of things going on, so yeah here's the next chapter.**

**Jess POV**

Come on Jess, you can do it, fly, fly, fly! Faster, faster, you only get one shot at this. The erasers were on my tail and I was flying as fast as my super speed would let me go. I saw my family ahead and the erasers behind me, yet I was falling behind. The erasers were almost on me! Fly Jess, fly, you've got to be faster unless you want to go back… Something snapped my wings together and I was falling.

I woke up with start, breathing hard, a cold sweat coating my face. I was surrounded by shelves of books. We were still in the library, it wasn't morning yet.

"You know you talk when you sleep sometimes." Came a voice right behind me. I jumped up and spun around. Blade sat on the floor looking about ready to laugh. That's when it hit me, I'd fallen asleep on top of one of the book shelves and I was now on the ground.

"You were having a nightmare and fell off the shelf. I caught you before you woke up with a really nasty headache." Blade said, smirking, as he stood up. He was a head taller than me and I'd never noticed how cute his face was.

"Um thanks. What time is it?"

"About six in the morning, Shay's already awake and getting everyone else around. Shall we go join him?"

I rolled my eyes and walked to one of the back windows where everyone was congregating. I saw the row of computers out of the corner of my eyes. Last night we'd learned more about our parents past than they'd ever told us. We'd also found out some more info on Itex, just to let you know Josh can hack into almost anything on a computer, and I really wanted to find our parents.

"Hey Shay," Casey asked, "Before we go can we come up with a name for us?"

Shay turned around with a puzzled look on his face. I'm sure mine looked the same, because so did everyone else's.

"What do you mean?" Shay asked in a careful voice. He really wanted to get out of here.

"I mean, our parents call themselves the flock and I know we're part of the flock too, but can't we make up a name just for us kids?" Casey asked giving Shay bambi eyes. Darn it, now we would be here for a while.

"Okay, so what did you have in mind?" Shay asked with a defeated tone in his voice.

Chellsie, Josh, Casey, Rose and Eliza each gave one suggestion. There was the pack, Rose, the super amazing cool flying kids, Casey, the family, Chellsie, the herd, Josh, and flock two, Eliza. By a unanimous vote we became the pack. I know it sounds lame but packs are cool. There are a lot of different kinds of packs; many of those are really strong animals.

"Cool, now we're the pack!" Casey yelled punching his fist into the air. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw the computers again and an idea popped into my head.

"Shay, um the guys at Itex know what we look like."

Shay gave me a curious glance then recognition dawned on his face.

"We need to look different." I nodded my head and caught Blade's face. He didn't want to get a makeover, but it was essential.

"Ooh cool, Blade you should have your hair dyed yellow, and Shay should get his hair dyed pink." Chellsie exclaimed. Everyone but Shay, Blade, and Chellsie burst out laughing. Chellsie then realized what she'd said and joined in the laughter as well. Shay and Blade both glared at us. The only time I would see them actually do that would be the day my dad wore a pink shirt.

**Review please. I know this chapter was short but I'm running out of time. **


	15. Discovery

So yeah you all can kill me now for not updating

**So yeah you all can kill me now for not updating. But I'd hold off if I were you because here's the next chapter. **

**JESS PO**

"Oh my gosh Jess, didn't that lady do the best job ever?"

"Yes she did a fine job Chellsie."

The hairstylists that had cut Chellsie's hair beamed.

"Jess, how come I can't get a perm?"

"Because I said so Eliza, now lets get out of here and find the boys."

I walked out of the hair salon with Chellsie, Rose, and Eliza. We walked out of the mall onto the street. The sun was just starting to go down when we walked into the huge store that Shay said the boys would be in.

"Well guys I don't see the boys. Why don't you go and try to find them. See if you can sneak up on them and give them a good scare." I said this and then the girls were off the search the huge store.

I started wandering towards the back and looking into the sectioned off places. This store was big, almost as big as the Super Wal-Mart I'd always go shopping in with my mom. It was also weirdly laid out. It didn't have aisles but was divided into sections by walls. There were small and large sections that seemed to contain everything from groceries to tires.

That's when I noticed that the store was empty. No one was shopping, and there were no workers. It was silent. It was probably me being paranoid. After we'd left the library, Rush had found a McDonalds for breakfast and we'd done some random things. Finally Casey had spotted the barber shop and we'd gotten somewhat make-over's.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I whipped around, ready to take anything, but there was nothing there. Like I said it was probably the paranoia of not being attacked today.

I wandered into one of the smaller cubicles. This one had a door that shut when I went in. My mind instantly flashed to all those horror movies my mom and I watched.

"Get a _grip_, Jess."

As I looked around my eyes nearly bugged out. There were shelves of CD's and there was even a machine that let you sample some of the music. Trailing my hand acrossed a shelf of music I noticed one of my favorite bands, Skillet. As I looked down the line I saw the titles of some of the other bands I knew, Kutless, Thousand Foot Krutch, and even Reliant K.

I suddenly became aware of the fact that it felt like I was being watched, but when I looked, no one was there and I didn't even see a camera.

"Creepy."

I began to walk towards the door, bent on getting the guys and getting out of there when I heard something. It seemed very loud compared to the quiet store, but it sounded like footsteps! I froze, listening as the sound increased and then faded away. It had come from…below me!

"Okay now I've had it. Shay, Blade, I know you're hiding so come out. This isn't funny anymore."

No one appeared. I didn't believe in ghosts but now…

"Oh my gosh Jess. Listen to yourself. Someone was just running through the store."

Satisfied I went to open the door, but when I turned the knob it stopped and wouldn't budge.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!"

The door was locked. No worries, I'll just break it down. I back up the opposite edge of the room and prepared to get a running start. The floor moved!

"Gah!"

I jumped to the middle of the room and watched as a section of the floor flew open. Musty air met me and I faintly heard the sound of running water. Then the smell hit me.

"Yuck!"

As much as my instincts screamed at me to go the other way, I walked towards the little trap door. Why? Well, one because the door to get out was locked and two, I was curious. I looked over the edge and saw…

**Reviews are welcome. I'll update as soon as I possibly can. **


	16. The Tunnel

**Yo peoples, thanks for the reviews and don't kill me for ending chapters in suspense. So here you all go the next chapter. **

**Jess POV**

_I looked over the edge and saw…_

Black, black that seemed to come from the ground and contain a sinister evil. A black that was broken by a pair of yellow eyes and a low growl. In the black was an… eraser!

I jumped back and hit a shelf full of CD's, a couple even flew off and landed at my feet. Out of the hole came one of the biggest erasers I've ever seen. He was massive, at least seven feet tall with yellow eyes that flashed with hate. His whole body was covered with muscles and I could barely make out the outline of gigantic wings on his back. He was fully morphed and was covered with black fur the color of a moonless night. His claws had to be the size of a full grown tigers and the growl sounded exactly like a wolf when it felt threatened or was angry. All in all, I was pretty much toast if I fought this thing.

"Who are you?" The eraser asked me. I summoned up every ounce of courage I could and got ready to face off against this monster. Just then it hit me, erasers were made by Itex, and one just came through that hole. That hole must lead to something under Itex's control!

"No one you would know." It's now or never Jess. I dove forward and actually rolled between the erasers legs, yeah he was that huge. I stopped by the hole and threw myself over the edge.

I heard an enraged, bloodthirsty roar and then the light from above was blocked out as the eraser came down the hole. Of course using a ladder I'd neglected to use. I fell and hit cement, hard. Quickly jumping to my feet, I ran to my left and slowly began to spread out my wings, testing to see if the tunnel I'd dropped into was wide enough for me to take off in.

I could hear footsteps but couldn't tell if they were following or running away from me. My heart was beating at twice its normal speed and the adrenaline pumping through my system made me even faster on my feet. Every one of my senses screamed at me to take off and get out of the dark tunnel. So I took off.

My eyes were now used to the darkness and I could see what was ahead of me. I was indeed in a long tunnel. It was wide enough for my wings and then some. It had a tall ceiling and I stayed as close to the top of the tunnel as I could. The air was cold and chilly and the spray of water from a little stream coated everything in mushy goo. I didn't want to know what was in the water, probably sewage, and didn't want to find out.

I didn't hear the footsteps anymore and without the extra noise, the tunnel was dead silent. When I saw a bend in the way my mind began to race with questions. Where was Shay and the rest of the pact? Did they even know what was below the store? Was this an Itex building? If it was, did they know we were above them? And lastly, where were our grandparents and parents?

I set down on the ledge right before the turn. The floor was slippery and the cement walls were slimy. That's when faint footsteps sounded in the tunnel around the bend. I pressed myself hard against the wall, grimacing in disgust, and waited.

If whoever it was that was coming saw me, I would jump them and shove them in the water. If by chance they didn't see me, then I would stay as silent as possible and keep on going up the tunnel. If I was faced with another gigantic eraser than I would have to think on the spot. I would probably sing and hypnotize the beast.

The footsteps were closer. It wasn't just one set it was at least three. They didn't sound very heavy but it was hard to hear, like the people were trying to stay as quiet as possible.

There was a splash and silence followed. Where the footsteps were coming from something had just fallen into the water.

The footsteps started up again after a minute or two. They were close. Then a tennis shoe came around the corner followed by Rush, Blade and Josh. I saw them about the same time they saw me.

"Jess, oh my gosh you got down here too?" Blade asked.

"Duh! If I hadn't gotten down here then I wouldn't be standing here talking to you." Josh came over to me and hugged me tight. I was seriouly relieved to see these three but would never admit to it.

"Jess it was the worst thing ever. All of a sudden there was this huge eraser in front of us. He came up through the floor. Shay and Casey were able to get out of the room before the eraser closed the door. Then Rush pushed me down into the hole and he and Blade followed." Whispered Josh.

"You saw that monster too then. He came out of the floor in the cubical with a bunch of music stuff in it and I just barely made it passed him. I think he ran the other way though when I got to the ground."

Rush nodded. "That was where we were too. The end of this tunnels a dead end. We were just turning around. There was a reason the eraser ran left instead of this way."

We all stood together and imagined the possibilities of what could be at the other end of the tunnel. None that came to my mind were very encouraging. At least Shay and Casey had gotten away. Then I remembered the girls.

"Oh no, when the girls and I came into the store I sent them off to look for you guys."

Blade and Rush's eyes popped wide and they turned towards the way I'd just come from. I didn't want to imagine what the eraser could and would do to three young girls who had wings. But suddenly that was the least of my worries when behind us came a voice.

"Are you birdies ready to play?"

**I'll update soon and reviews are amazingly welcomed. **


	17. Reunion, AGAIN!

So yeah guys, thanks for all the reviews. Um… no new news so here's the next chapter.

Max POV

"So Max, flock, are you ready to give up this silly little quest of yours?"

"Wow, oh my gosh, what did you do to your hair? I've discovered something that should take all that dirt right out, it's an amazing thing called shampoo. You should try it sometimes." I said to the lady standing in front of me.

"Max it would take a lot more than just regular shampoo to fix this lady's hair. I mean, it's like she's never heard of conditioner." Alexis said. We were trying to make this lady get mad enough to make a mistake. At the rate she was going, all she had to do was move an inch or so to the right and I would have the evil monster who dared try to hurt my family.

"Shut up all of you! Now Fang is it," the director said turning to my husband who was also strapped to a table like the rest of us. "Hold still long enough for my assistant here to do a test."

The director's assistant, a bald, skinny, white man, came forward with a long needle attached to a syringe filled with some blue liquid.

"Leave my dad alone!" Jess yelled. She was straining against the straps just as I was. Jess, Blade, Rush, and Josh were being held by erasers in the corner of the room. To say I was just a bit angry with Itex was an understatement. We were in the suburbs of New York of all places. My flock and I were just getting ready to take down the place when a ton of erasers sprung out of nowhere and caught us. Now it wouldn't have been even the slightest problem to take them all out but they had Blade, Rush, Jess, and Josh.

There was one other problem. This was the Itex headquarters. As in the one we needed to destroy. As in they were going to run tests on our kids if we didn't do something.

"Oh would you like this blue stuff inside of you instead?" The director asked Jess. My eyes and mind clouded over with intense, blinding, rage. That's when the director moved just right and I snatched her pocketknife, and used it to cut my binds really fast.

"Before she knew what hit here, I'd cocked my arm back and whipped it forward. My fist hit the side of her head and she dropped right there. The assistant didn't make it far because he ran right into a roundhouse kick and he doubled over trying to breath. I tossed the knife at Fang and went to face the four erasers charging me. But they didn't get very far. Jess opened her mouth and sang and one eraser dropped to his knees, Rush threw a fireball that incinerated one eraser, Josh threw one of his many rocks he always had in his pocket with enough force to stop another eraser, and Blade just beat the crap out of the last one.

"Nice!" I said just before Jess ran headlong into me. I hugged her tight and soon I felt Fangs arms around both of us. When I looked up, Iggy and Ella were hugging Blade and Rush, and Gazzy and Alexis were hugging Josh.

"Max where'd that wiener assistant go?" Angel asked me looking around.

Just then Shay, Casey, Eliza, Rose, and Chellsie came in the room. Shay had an intense look on his face, probably because he was using his persuasion to make three erasers and the assistant walk in front of him. I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing.

Shay smiled, gave one final command for them all to sit and then he let them go. Soon we were all reunited and ready to go. Then Shay asked the question I was dreading to answer.

"Mom, where's grandma and grandpa?"

Ella's eyes clouded over and I took a long deep breath. Why hide it, we'll have to explain everything sooner or later. But it wasn't me who answered it was Nudge.

"Guys we've all got a lot of explaining to do but for right now we need to destroy this building."

Loved Nudge to death for trying to avoid the question but the kids needed to know anyway.

"Kids, your grandparents were killed by the erasers who were sent to their house to attack you."

"Oh! Well, all the more reason to kick Itex's butt." Chellsie said.

So I'll update soon and yeah review.


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